Greenwood Memorial Gardens Cemetery picture courtesy of Hooper and Weaver Mortuary
Rough and Ready Highway, Grass Valley, California
I posted several days ago about the origins of Decoration Day and my paternal Great Great Grandfather's military service in the Civil War. I wrote from the perspective of someone who never knew the term "Decoration Day"; I have only known a holiday called Memorial Day that marked the end of the school year and the beginning of summer. Memorial Day became an official federal holiday in 1971. As my family did not have any family members who lost their lives in any military conflicts we did not observe the day by attending parades or visiting gravesites to honor anyone. It was a day off from school, and marked a time of transition from spring to summer.
My mother, Margaret Hansen Boothby, started an interesting conversation through email about what Memorial Day meant to her, after reading my last post. Here are her thoughts and her story.......
"When I was growing up this holiday was always referred to as "Decoration Day". Flowers from Nana's (Emma King Hayes Van Duzer) garden were taken out to Greenwood Cemetery, the graves were weeded and raked, then the flowers put on the graves in canning jars. It was a day of great reverence, not for fallen military heroes or relatives, but a day to honor family dead, at least in our family. Many families took picnics to Greenwood and ate on the lawn close to their ancestors' graves but we never did that. If the weather was good, we might have a picnic or eat outdoors. ALL the stores were closed as were the bars. Earlier in the month of May there was always a discussion as to whether or not the garden flowers would be 'ready by decoration day'. Maybe our family was different in its celebrations of the day because there were no men who had died in any wars, at least that I know of...none whose graves we went to anyway."
"The name of the holiday was changed. Not everyone was happy about that! My family and many others of the parents' and grandparents' generation always referred to it as Decoration Day."
"Veterans Day in the fall was a different thing. Then, all veterans, including living veterans and those who served but did not die in wartime were honored. Gravesites were visited and cleaned again. One year Grandma Hansen (Vere Burrows Hansen) insisted we go to Sylvan Cemetery to visit Grandfather Hansen's grave (John Hartwig Hansen), so I remembered that. I had no idea what the Spanish American War was all about, but it was fun to visit the cemetery."
As I research and write my family's stories, I find that everyone remembers things in their own unique way, from their own unique perspective. But, all versions come together to make a complete story! I think I have a more rounded, complete view of what Memorial Day means to my family. I have two ancestors who served in the Civil War, one from my maternal side and one from my paternal side. The end of that war brought about a way the country as a whole wanted to remember the sacrifice. It evolved to include the unique way my mother's family and the community of Grass Valley marked the day. It evolved to include how I viewed the day as I grew up.
As I continue my research I am struck with how neglected and forgotten many cemeteries have become. I too want to get out my rake and garden gloves and attend to hidden headstones. I would like to decorate with beautiful flowers from my garden! I remember my visit to the Pine Grove Cemetery in Nevada City last fall and seeing someone sitting in the sun, eating her lunch and reading for a short while. I don't know if she was sitting by a family member's grave, or if she just wanted a quiet spot to spend her lunch break, but I thought that was a very nice way to spend a warm fall afternoon!
Perhaps my generation is missing something very special, there at the cemetery. I have listed family members whose graves can be found at the Greenwood Memorial Cemetery in Grass Valley, as well as the Old Elm Ridge Cemetery. If you have a chance, take some flowers with you, "decorate" and visit. The Greenwood cemetery is still kept in beautiful condition, thanks to the Hooper and Weaver Mortuary. Other cemeteries are in much poorer conditions. You can join groups such as the Comstock Cemetery Foundation in Virginia City, Nevada or the Hillside Cemetery Preservation Foundation in Reno, Nevada to help preserve places where other family members are buried. That is also a wonderful way to honor and remember our Hayes/Hansen/Burrow family members. Those cemeteries are still open for visitation if you are interested.
Emma King Hayes Van Duzer's plot at Greenwood Memorial Cemetery, Grass Valley, California. She is buried with her second husband, George F. Van Duzer. The plot is located in Block 10, #74.
Dorothy Ross Hayes Arthur is buried with her husband William Arthur at Greenwood Memorial Cemetery, Grass Valley, California. The plot is located in the Garden of Devotion K-3.
Francis Charlotte Hayes Holman is buried next to her husband Joseph Holman at Greenwood Memorial Cemetery, Grass Valley, California. The plot is located in the Garden of the Last Supper, Sect. 30, 31, Row 16.
Hulda Elizabeth Hansen is listed by Find A Grave as being buried in the Greenwood Memorial Cemetery, but doesn't list where the plot is. She was buried in April of 1905.
Jack Klemmet Hansen is buried in Block 7, #49 (Nankervis Plot) at the Greenwood Memorial Cemetery, Grass Valley, California.
Dale Richard Boothby is also buried at the Greenwood Memorial Cemetery, Grass Valley, California. His plot is located in the Garden of the Last Supper.
John and Elfreda (Levers) George are buried in the Old Elm Ridge Cemetery on Kidder Avenue in Grass Valley, California. Elfreda was Emma Van Duzer's aunt, sister to her mother Anna Levers King. The plot is located in Block B # 125,6 and 135,6. There are quite a few George family members in this cemetery.
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